# Poll (take two): Which profession do you despise the most, and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600 "2010-05-24T18:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/41 "2010-05-25T16:53:25Z")
I have had nothing but trouble from lying car salesmen. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/42 "2010-05-25T17:33:05Z")
I went for telemarketer, but would have chosen any other hard-sell profession (except, oddly, car salesman, because it’s not like I have to deal with them very regularly). ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/43 "2010-05-25T18:14:16Z")
Traders. Brokers. The worthless, coke-snorting yuppie scum from stock exchanges from all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/44 "2010-05-25T18:44:28Z")
> [@Khaki\_Campbell](#): > > Traders. Brokers. The worthless, coke-snorting yuppie scum from stock exchanges from all over the world. I love you, too! ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/45 "2010-05-25T21:06:37Z")
I picked C.E.O.'s, the obvious choice, with politicians being the only other contender. C.E.O.'s are responsible for polluting the environment, exploiting workers at home and abroad, cheating safety and other regulations with sometimes fatal consequences, spreading disinformation about global warming and numerous other topics, coarsening our culture with vulgar media and advertising, and the list goes on. How can you choose anything else? Telemarketers? Is interrupting someone’s dinner worse than running huge sweatshops or destroying pristine wilderness with pollutants? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/46 "2010-05-25T21:43:12Z")
I met a girl this weekend who seems very nice. She just graduated from Cal. Her new job? Sales and marketing for Phillip Morris. Ironically we were doing a long run together. I kept my mouth shut when what I really wanted to yell was “Are you out of your freakin’ mind?” She’s 21 and I hope she decides it’s the wrong place for her and leaves asap, preferably taking all of their other salespeople with her. ---
**Author:** ![Negative\_Lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Negative\_Lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Negative_Lite)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/47 "2010-05-25T22:04:30Z")
I don’t hate telemarketers. I hate all the people who buy shit from telemarketers. People, for the love of god, stop buying and they’ll stop calling! ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/48 "2010-05-25T22:37:09Z")
Baby killer isn’t there so I went with Politician. Not an abortion Dr., an actual baby killer, is the only thing lower than a Politician. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/49 "2010-05-26T01:15:34Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Had to go with clerics, with politicians IMO a close second. > > Clerics are insane, deluded, or outright frauds. Every single one, pretty much by definition. Some of them are quite nice folks, though. > > You may have guessed I’m an atheist. I had a hard time deciding between Clerics or lawyers. Although, insurance policy rejecters ( they reject everything) are higher than clerics and politics and lawyers in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/50 "2010-05-26T01:25:11Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I went with telemarketer. All of the other jobs at least have a purpose. If we didn’t have car salesmen, who would we buy our cars from? And, while there are bad cops out there, I’d just as soon not call a singer/musician when my house has been burgled. > > But telemarketers serve no other purpose than to annoy people in an attempt to get them to buy something that they could purchase through other channels, in the unlikely event that they actually wanted it. > > Telemarketers serve no useful function. Even less useful: paparazzi people. Human vultures with no sense of decency. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/51 "2010-05-26T01:30:02Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Even less useful: paparazzi people. Human vultures with no sense of decency. I kind of like ugly celebrity photos. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/52 "2010-05-26T03:46:22Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Even less useful: paparazzi people. Human vultures with no sense of decency. I agree, Mr. Penn. They are pretty goddamn low. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/53 "2010-05-26T03:50:32Z")
Anyone who sells harmful nonsense. “Psychics” who exploit the vulnerable, alternative medicine practitioners who tell people not to use legitimate medical treatments and instead pay for their quackery. Clerics are selling something phoney, but most of them don’t know it. They truly believe what they’re doing is for the best. It’s hard to hate someone who, however misguided, dedicates their lives to what they consider helping others. And I’m sure some people who claim paranormal powers are also deluded and don’t really know what they’re doing, but many of them (most?) are scam artists and despicable human beings. Sylvia Browne, Kevin Trudeau, John Edward, faith healers, homeopaths, phone physics - they’re all basically in the same profession, and they are scum. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/54 "2010-05-26T07:55:03Z")
I chose “other” - you didn’t have “Soldier” on your list. Of the professions that are on your list, I’d have picked “CEO” ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/55 "2010-05-28T07:44:36Z")
Other: Journalist (or what poses for journalist these days anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/56 "2010-05-28T14:45:19Z")
Hang on a second…heads, lawyer - tails, telemarketer. Telemarketer. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/57 "2010-05-28T15:20:18Z")
Wish I could have picked two options. Lawyers and telemarketers are pretty even on my scale: but after seeing the disdain that telemarketers are getting here, I went ahead and chose lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/58 "2010-05-28T15:37:20Z")
I actually feel sorry for telemarketers. The industry itself is a disease, of course, but the people who actually have to sit in those sweatshops with the headphones on are in a miserable, desperate situation or they wouldn’t do it. The people responsible for the practice are not the callers themselves, but the douchebag execs who never have to make a call or receive a call themselves. Are telemarketers still really even that much of a nuisance any more? I thought caller ID, cell phones and no-call lists had pretty much decimated the problem. I haven’t had telemarket cold call in years (though I do occasionally get the automated spam calls from my credit card companies). I vote CEOs – one need not look any further than BP. These are the pricks who are literally destroying the world. Internet spammers should be on the list too, though. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/59 "2010-05-28T15:48:32Z")
I would really like to know who said “teachers,” and why. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600/60 "2010-05-28T16:07:13Z")
Some of the choices in the poll are odd. Railroad Engineer? Retail Clerk? Musician/Singer? What the hey? What about Hedge Fund Manager? Lobbyist? Nigerian scamsters? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-take-two-which-profession-do-you-despise-the-most-and-why/540600.md?page=4)